Put the island sink off center, with cabinets on both sides of the island

Step by step

1. 1

   Add the island and give it its real size

   Open Furnish, pick the Kitchen tab and go to Islands & Carts (or search sink island). Add Island w/ Sink & Appliance Bays and drag it into place. It arrives at 72″ × 27″ and 36″ tall, one row deep.

   Select it and type your island's size in W and D. Two numbers matter:

   - Width ÷ 3 is the size of each section. A 72″ island has 24″ sections (right for a 24″ dishwasher or base cabinet); a 96″ (8′) island has 32″ sections, enough for a 30″ base cabinet. - Depth 48″ or more adds the back row. Below 48″ the island has one row of bays on its front; from 48″ it has three more on the back, and the Sink tab gains its Side choice.

   Then turn the island with Rotate so its front faces the side you'll stand at to use the sink. While the island is selected, the small triangle on its outline marks the front. In the example below the island is turned to 180° so its front faces the kitchen counters and its back faces the living room.

   The sink is drawn up to 33″ wide, centred in its section:

   Island width	Section	Sink drawn	Fits in the other bays
   72″ (6′)	24″	21″	24″ dishwasher, 24″ base cabinet
   96″ (8′)	32″	29″	24″ dishwasher, up to a 30″ base cabinet
   108″ (9′)	36″	33″	up to a 36″ base cabinet

2. 2

   Open the Sink tab and pick the sink's position

   With the island selected, the panel shows three tabs: Finish, Counter Top and Sink. (On a phone, tap More options at the bottom of the panel to see them.) Open Sink: - Position: Left, Center or Right puts the sink in the left, middle or right section. - Side: Front or Back puts it in the front or back row. This only appears on an island 48″ deep or more. Left and right are as you stand at the front of the island facing it, not as the plan is drawn on screen. On an island turned 180°, like this one, Left therefore shows on the right-hand end of the plan. A new island, or one saved before this option existed, has its sink in the middle of the front row.

   

3. 3

   See the cabinets make room for the sink

   When the sink changes section, whatever stood in that bay moves into the section the sink just left. Here the sink starts in the Center with the dishwasher to its left; tapping Left moves the sink to the end and slides the dishwasher into the middle bay, so it still sits right beside the sink. The base cabinet at the other end doesn't move. That swap is what keeps the classic sink-and-dishwasher pairing intact. The NKBA asks for the dishwasher's nearest edge within 36″ of the sink's edge, and for 21″ of standing room beside its open door. Next to each other on the island's front row, both are easy.

   

4. 4

   Drag cabinets and appliances into the bays

   Empty bays show a dashed outline labelled Drag appliance here. Drag a piece from the catalog (or one already on the plan) and let go over a bay: - it snaps flush to that side of the island, centred in the section; - it faces out: front-row pieces face the front, back-row pieces are turned to face the back; - one piece per bay: dropping onto a filled bay replaces what was there, unless that piece is locked, in which case the drop doesn't snap. What fits a bay: rectangular base cabinets (any width; pick one no wider than the section) and the under-counter appliances Dishwasher, Drawer Dishwasher, Mini Fridge, Wine Fridge and Ice Maker 24″. Corner, lazy-susan and angled base cabinets don't, because they can't sit square in a bay. Every bay piece stays a real item with its own panel, so you can still change its doors, hardware, finish and countertop.

   

5. 5

   Make the side facing the living room all cabinets

   This is the layout most people ask for in an open plan: the sink and dishwasher on the kitchen side, and three base cabinets on the side facing the living room. On the Ranch template the 8′ × 4′ island sits 48″ from the counter fronts, the NKBA work-aisle width for two cooks (42″ is its minimum for one), and leaves about 7′ to the sofa behind it, well over the 36″ the NKBA asks for a walkway. Flow check OK confirms nothing overlaps. The trade-off: cabinets on the back mean no seating on that side. Stools need knee space under the counter, which the NKBA puts at 15″ deep × 24″ wide per person at a 36″ counter, and a cabinet front leaves none. That's why the template's three counter stools were removed here. If you want both storage and seats, keep the island one row deep and put the stools on the open back, or make the island longer and seat people at the ends.

   

6. 6

   Or put the sink on the back

   On a deep island, Side → Back moves the sink into the back row, in the column set by Position, and the cabinet that was there swaps to the front. Use it when the island's front has to face a particular way (for example, to keep an appliance bay toward the range) but you want to stand at the sink facing the other side, or when the sink should face a window or the living room. The basin always opens toward the side its row faces, so a back-row sink is used from the back.

   

7. 7

   Move, turn or resize the island and the bays come along

   Drag the island and every piece in its bays moves with it; rotate it and they turn with it, keeping their places. Change its W or D, or move the sink, and each piece re-seats in its bay on the new shape. If a back row disappears because you made the island shallower than 48″, those pieces stay where they were relative to the island so you can decide what to do with them. Locked pieces stay put. Only bay pieces travel with the island. Pendant lights above it, and appliances or accessories standing on its counter, stay where they are; select them together with the island (drag a selection box around them all) to move the whole group. See selecting several items.

8. 8

   Check it in 3D from both sides

   Open the 3D view and tick Dollhouse. From the living room you see what guests see: three cabinet fronts under the countertop, with the sink barely visible on top. Use the turn arrows at the bottom of the view to swing round to the kitchen side: the sink is a recessed stainless basin with a gooseneck faucet, drawn at real size in its section, with the dishwasher beside it and a cabinet at the far end. While you're there, look at how much counter you have left beside the sink for preparing food. That is the part a plan view makes easy to misjudge.

   

9. 9

   Look at the sink side

   From the kitchen side the off-center layout is clear: the sink at one end, the dishwasher next to it, a base cabinet at the other end, and a long run of clear countertop to the right of the sink for preparing food. If the counter beside the sink feels short, this is the moment to make the island longer or move the sink back to the center.

   

Common mistakes

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